Genesis 37:5-11

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5 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. 6 So he said to them, "Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: 7 There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf." 8 And his brothers said to him, "Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?" So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. 9 Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, "Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me." 10 So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?" 11 And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind. ~ Genesis 37:5-11

Today, we continue our study of Genesis 37 where the spotlight has shifted to the next Patriarch of Israel, Joseph. Although his brothers already hated him because he was most favored by their father, the events of today's passage further ratcheted down their hatred for their little brother. The underlining story was that Joseph's brothers hated him because of his God-given rule and authority. Their problem was they could not see in advance that God had His hand upon Joseph who pictured the Lord Jesus who was hatred Himself by His countrymen.

In v.5-8 of today's passage we read, "5 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. 6 So he said to them, 'Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: 7 There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.' 8 And his brothers said to him, 'Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?' So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words."

Joseph's dream was from God and in it Joseph saw that there were 12 sons binding sheaves in the field. He then saw that his sheaf arose and stood up. And then he said that his brothers' their sheaves stood all around his and bowed down to his sheaf. Needless to say, Joseph's brothers did not like this message. When prophets speak on the behalf of God, more often than not they are hated. Thirteen years later, Joseph's brothers came to Egypt and they bowed down to him, because they wanted food. They were starving to death, and they didn't know that their little brother had become the second most powerful man in the world and could give them all the food they needed. When we are not in the habit of walking with the Lord, we will fail to recognize His will and His ways. 

The first dream got Joseph in trouble with his brothers. They asked, "shall you indeed have dominion over us?" Twice we are told that they hate him and along with the second time we read the words "even more" which is a Hebrew word that has the same root word as Joseph’s name. Joseph means "he increases." Over the course of this story, Joseph will increase, but his brothers’ hatred will increase as well. The amazing part about this is that even their hatred was allowed and used by God for Joseph's and his family's good.

In v.9 of today's passage we read, "Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, 'Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.'"

Once again, Joseph had another dream which resembled the first, and in the Bible, when things are repeated, the second occurrence is given to confirm the first. The symbolism of the 11 stars was the same as the 11 sheaves. They speak of the 11 brothers of Joseph. Joseph's second dream was in the heavens. The sun, the moon, and the stars bowed down to him. The message is that Christ is Lord in the heavenlies. 

Here's why Joseph's dream could have become a living nightmare. He came from a dysfunctional family. His grandfather, Abraham was dishonest. Abraham put his wife in another man's tent, told her to spend the night there. "Tell him you're my sister," Joseph said to Sarah. Jacob was deceitful. His name meant deceiver. He stole the birthright from his brother, Esau. Jacob fled in terror from Esau because Esau was going to kill him. He fell hopelessly in love with Rachel, the daughter of Laban. Jacob was deceived by Laban, his father-in-law, to work 14 years for Rachel's hand in marriage. What we do to others, God will see to it that that happens to us. Jacob deceived his father, so he was deceived by his father-in-law, and it cost him 14 years of his life.

In Joseph's second dream the sun and the moon represented Joseph's father and mother, Jacob and Leah. I know, his mother was Rachel, but she had dies and at the giving of this prophecy Leah was his mother. The sun represented the tribe of Judah, through whom the Lord Jesus Christ came. And, as we will see, the moon was ultimately fulfilled in Leah who pictured the law. In the Psalms, Judah is said to be the lawgiver. All the tribes of Israel and the law, which was what established them as a people, will all bow down to the Lord Jesus Christ as the King of kings and the Lord of lords to the glory of God. 

Joseph's second dream not only got Joseph in trouble with his brothers, now his father was mad at him too. We are told that his father rebuked him. Here, Joseph was in the middle of a completely dysfunctional family, yet there are these promises from God. Glimpses of the future which didn’t really seem to fit their current situation. Joseph was given promises from God and he was careful to be defined by those promises. Even when our family shuns us we must be defined by the word of God.

In v.10-11 of today's passage we read, "10 So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?" 11 And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind."

After Jospeh told his father and his brothers this second dream, Jacob was incredulous and rightfully so. There is no record of Jacob bowing to Joseph. It would be a stretch to find this dream’s fulfillment in him in any way at all. In the end, this second dream can be, and is, only fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. The nation of Israel, and the law which was issued to them, is the only reasonable explanation to what has been seen in Joseph’s second dream. Thus, there is a literal and spiritual fulfillment of the first dream, and a spiritual fulfillment in the second. But both are realized in the Lord Jesus ultimately.

Envy can lead to trouble, however, our trouble can be used by God in ways that are more marvelous than we might imagine. The terrible ordeal that Joseph would face because of his brother’s envy will be used by God at the Exodus to show forth His glory in a way which has been remembered for close to 4000 years. The exodus of Israel out of Egypt never would have occurred if Joseph wasn’t first sold by his brothers. And our exodus from our unforgiven state would have never have come about unless the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified whose cross also came about by the consuming envy of His own countrymen.